Hi!  I have a guest blogger today!  

I heard a commercial on the radio this morning about a floor installer that went from installation to business owner.  He said something that made me stop and ponder his statement.

He said, "It started on my knees". Now he was talking about his trek from installer to owner, but it made me think about how I started something new.  Do I start my day "on my knees"?  Do I start a decision "on my knees"?  Do I start my intercession for others "on my knees"?  If I am being honest, no.

In Luke 11, Jesus teaches how we are to pray.  Jesus prayed about the events in his life and he was the Son of God.  He would spend hours meeting with God.  Paul talks about praying without ceasing.  He was praying for all his friends and churches while sitting in prison.  I seem to find this hard because of a million other things that I let take away my time.  These are things that do not draw me...

Hello there!

Are you sentimental?  I am.  Things are special to me.  Well, I am learning that my sentimentality isn't really for "the thing" but for the memory and people attached to it.  

For the last few years I have been decorating our Christmas tree with a woodland theme.  I made some fluffy white garland and bought all these cute little creatures to hang on the tree.  There were birds nesting, birds flying, little racoons, hedgehogs, owls...and tons of pinecones filling up the tree.  But, I love all of my sentimental ornaments so I would drag an artificial tree out of the basement and set it up in another room filling it up with all of those memory flooding treasures.  Usually my youngest son would decorate with me and we would chatter and laugh about each ornament that we hung.   

I have so many favorites in my ornament collection.  There is this big cardboard cone with the remnants of the glitter that used to cover...

When I began my healing journey I searched and searched for a ladies retreat that had healing and art involved.  I think mostly I was seeking companionship, which I didn't really find, but I did find meditation, or what I like to call, guided imagery.  I found it everywhere, from online retreats to inperson writing classes, even the mayo clinic's website. And I must say, it really helped.

Guided imagery, according to Cleveland Clinic, is a form of focused relaxation that helps to create harmony between the mind and body.  It is a way of focusing your imagination to create calm, peaceful images in your mind thereby providing a "mental escape". 

Guided imagery relaxed me, gave me something to focus on other than my problems, and reduced my stress. But when I added journaling, drawing and painting to the process, it reached new levels.

By pairing art practices and journaling with the guided imagery, my mind was open to new possibilities, to goals - short and long...

During the 63 years that my mom lived, she taught me so many things... Innumerable things. From all sorts of crafts, to canning dill pickles, she also taught me how to be myself without worrying what others thought.  And the first thing I remember her teaching me how to cook was "little noodle soup" a.k.a. Lipton's Noodle Soup.

I was sitting on the counter between the sink and the stove as she showed me how to measure four cups, boil the water, pour in the soup mix, stir it up and wait ten minutes until it was to it's optimal doneness... Oh!  Little noodle soup was my favorite!  I remember eating it almost every day. To this day, it is what I need to have when I am sick; it's like my mom is sitting right there with me as she always used to.

I could go on and on for years about my mom and what she taught me, but today I want to share with you what I learned from her on her death bed.

My mom had MS for many years and then she got lung cancer.  The...

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I have always been fascinated by pictures that I have seen of the gigantic Sequoia trees.  I saw pictures of tiny, ant-like people standing next to one, or even cars driving through a tunnel going inside of a sequoia tree..."How can that be? Oh! How I would love to see one of those one day!" I would think.    

One day I was at a Christian Ladies' Conference when a pastor's wife spoke on friendship.  She made a correlation between friendship and Sequoia trees.  Hearing this made me love these gentle giants even more!  I went home to study these fascinating trees further.

There are differences between the Giant Sequoia trees and the Giant Redwood trees but they both have a very special attribute...their root system.  But first let's talk about some of their differences. 

The Giant Sequoia trees can grow up to 311 feet tall and the base of the tree can as big as 40 feet in diameter! The bark can be as thick as 31 inches !...

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Art Therapy has been used for years as a tool to promote healing and mental well being, but in recent years it has gotten more attention of the psychology world as a valid method of healing.  Viewing art or actively creating art can bring great benefits.

Expressive art can help people to do some soul searching in a way that is less painful and gets deeper into the heart.  It can also help to cope with stress, explore emotions, and even boost self-esteem.   There are SO many reasons why someone might use the tool of therapeutic art such as PTSD, aging, depression, anxiety, substance abuse...the list goes on and on.  For me, it is a must for my well being.

Therapeutic art is said to reframe trauma in the maker while in a calm, trance-like state.  For me, expressive art has the power to transfer my feeling.  It's like taking the stress, trauma or negative feelings and transfering them right to the art paper!  It is like the paper and...